DV audio capture problem
 

I'm getting serious and repetitive audio dropout, crackle when I capture video from my GL1 into Premiere 6.5. This occurs only on tapes which were recorded on another camera.
It occurs through both the firewire and when using the A/V jacks, but is not heard when listening to playback on the camera.
The tapes were originally shot on DVCPro and transferred to MiniDV.
I've tried capturing on a Alienware 2.53 GHz P4, Matrox RT.X100 card, and Creative Audigy Platinum eX sound card, running XP Pro and a Sony Vaio laptop running XP Pro. This happens on just about every tape not originally shot on the GL1.

Any ideas?

thanks,
Kirk

Fellowes Screen Protector for GL2's LCD Display
 

While looking around at Target today, I noticed that packages of Fellowes brand "Wright Right" screen protectors (a thin polymer film that helps prevent scratches and glare) for Palm Pilots were on sale for a little under $4.00. I decided to buy a pack not to use on a Palm Pilot, but rather as a protective cover for the LCD display on my GL2. I know Fellowes manufactures a similar product for the small LCD displays on digital cameras, and my guess is that the Palm screen protectors and digital camera screen protectors are the same material just cut to different sizes. Nonetheless I thought I'd ask if anyone has cut PDA screen protectors to the proper size and used them on a GL2 or other camera with an LCD display. I'm assuming that if the film is safe to use on a PDA screen, then it could be safely used on an LCD display, but I just thougt I'd ask for your opinions.

case for GL2
 

I was looking for a case for my GL2, mostly to support it while it sat on the floor of my van, between the seats, but also some to protect it when I travel by air.

I considered a hard case but I really will be using it more in the car than needing to ship it so I thought soft would work better. I looked at the Portabrace (nice, too expensive). I was leaning toward the Kata for a while but haven't been able to find one locally to look it. The Lowe Pro bag was (and may still be) an option.

In searching around for a cheaper alternative I stumbled across a bag that may work well. It is called "Uncle Mike's Deluxe Range Bag" and is designed to haul your gear to a shooting range. It is designed for law enforcement use and is about as rugged as I've seen. It is padded, though not soft padding. The camera fits inside well but it will need some additional foam put in in order to hold in place better. At the moment the camera is sitting on top on my Sennheiser mic box on the bottom of the bag but I think I'll take the mic out of the box and put it in one of the padded side pockets.

The cost? $44 at Galyan's, a local sporting goods store. I'll certainly be giving it a try this weekend to see if it's a keeper.

Easy question, I'm just dumb :)
 

Ok.

I was filming an interior scene the other day for my upcoming film and I got a window in the shot. Big mistake. The window was recorded as just a white image where the trees would be (as shown through the window).

I was on a tight timeline, so I just refilmed from a different angle. However, to avoid doing this again, I was wondering if there was any way to fix this. I had it on manual recording, and just recently purchased the cammy. Could I fix this by putting it on "auto"?

Thanks

The scene exceeded the exposure range of your camera and format. Changing the aperture and/or shutter speed might have lowered the overall exposure, but your shadows would have gone black.

The easiest way to control a window is to cover it with an ND gel material to lower it's exposure value. You could also have added light to the interior to make it brighter and more closely match the brighter exterior. But just adusting the exposure can't bring the scene into the range your camera and format can reproduce. You need to make the brightness values of different elements within the scene closer to each other.

Now here is a funky apprach. Might even work.

Lock down the camerea - no movement what so ever

Shoot the scene with proper exposure for the interior.

Later (or earlier) shoot for proper exposure of the exterior.

Key or mask the properly exposed exterior into the interior shot in post.

Dust inside lens?
 

There seems to be 2 specs of dust on the inside of my GL2 lens. I've vleaned the lens thoroughly, so I am confident that my eyes are not decieving me. Does anyone know how to go about cleaning the lens or do I have to take it to a shop or get Canon to do it?

Thanks in advance!

See this thread.

DC Terminal
 

There is nothing about the DC terminal in the manual, apart from labelling it in the initial diagram.

Is it input or output? Does it match up with any accessories?

I think I remember someone telling is 5V output. I'm not sure. Also I don't know how much power (mA) could you draw from there without burning something.

I'm also interested to find out more about that DC.

Lighting conditions ?
 

Hello list:

S.O.S.
I just got my GL-2. Checking the manual... but I need to get some scenes NOW!!!

I need to find out how/where is located the buttom to change the recording to "indoors"and /o artificial light?

Also how the ND filter works...

Thank you in advance:

O. Ferrer

Look up the subject white balance in the manual and take a white piece of something around with you. You can also toggle between the pre-programed modes, which will be covered in the same section in the manual.

The ND filter works by reducing the amount of light hitting the CCD. This is needed for bright outdoor scenes.

GL2 and AGC
 

Does the GL2 have built-in Automatic Gain Control?
I filmed a completely silent scene last evening and once I had exported the footage to a wmv file you could quite clearly hear the camcorder motor.

However, the other day I filmed some countryside/wildlife scenes which, although very quiet, were not absolutely silent (very slight rustling of leaves, lapping water, etc). In that film I couldn't hear the motor at all. So this has left me with the question as to whether the GL2 has AGC and whether or not it can be disabled in anyway.

I know I should fork out for a mic, and will do so ultimately, but just wanted a quick fix for now.

Thanks

Hi,

What has AGC to do with motor sounds?

Cheers,
Dirk

Well, my theory is that if you are recording in a completely silent location and the camera has AGC then it would increase the level of gain (sensitivity) automatically to try and capture sound. Is it therefore possible that it increases the gain to such a level that it starts to "hear" the motor sound and records it accordingly?

Lloyd,

AGC in the GL2 (XM2) world relates to video not audio. If you are asking about the audio in automatic mode (slide switch just to the right of the LCD recess) - yes, ambient noise levels can affect the amount of camera noise present in your footage.

Brad

Case for snowboarding
 

I have the GL2 and im looking for a small hard case thats strong enough to take a fall and thats big enough for the camera but not too big to fit in a backpack. It needs to fit in a back pack because im going to be bringing it up on the mountain snowboarding and was wondering if anybody had any suggestions on that, or filming while snowboarding in winter conditions. condensation/ lighting/ coldness and how much wear and tare it can take. thanks.

Any Xi user feedback out there yet?
 

Inquiring minds would like to know.

The big thing Rob is DON'T FALL!!! Unfortunately, putting your camera in a housing is basically going to double its size. Ikelite has a housing that is probably the best value and smallest size you will find. However, I really don't think you need a housing, I've shot a lot of snowboarding with my XL and never had a problem. If you want some protection then an EWA VXM 2 might be what you are looking for.

What's the difference?
 

I have not use my new Canon XM2 so much yet, so perhaps I will know soon, but....

....what's the real difference between using "Exposure adjustment" (page 76 in manual) and "Using AE Shift (page 80)?

Which one do you more often use, "Exposure adjustment" or "Using AE shift"?

The exposure adjustment essentially locks your exposure at a certain place, temporarily turning off any automatic adjustment of the camera...it can be usefull when you've got a lot of camera or subject movement in which you don't want the auto exposure to cause variations in brightness.

The AE shift applies an exposure adjustment but leaves the AE feature active. This is useful when you have a light or dark subject, or if your camera is consistently producing results that appear too light or dark, yet you have variations in lighting that require automatic exposure adjustment.

Barry

Keep an eye on the dvinfo.net main site -- there could be some Xi developments there soon.

Should I exchange it?
 

Hi All -

Quick question: I just got new GL2..after brief inspection I see a 'bad' pixel in a viewfinder....is this a common occurance? Should exchange it or forget about it..

Paul

if its new...exchange it

Paul,
Before returning the camera, do me a favor and go to the GL2 Defects thread in this forum and try the viewfinder test. I am very curious to see if the problem may have been a production run issue.

Canon guarantees the LCD panels in the viewfinder and flip-out display to a degree of 99.97% -- if there are a couple of hot pixels, it's not considered a quality control problem. Hope this helps,

GL2 rebate extended
 

I snagged this info from dv.com

http://www.canondv.com/promotions/index.html

The rebate goes from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31

In that case, here is where I just got mine, only $1788 after rebate
http://www.willoughbys.com/shop/Prod...p?sku=30501799

Just don't get the overnight shipping, it cost me $180 to have it shipped overnight from New York to Wisconsin. I currently have a claim in with the Better Buisness Bureau becasue according to FedEx it only cost them about $50 to ship it.

$180 US for FEDEX shipping? I got one MX300 shipped via FEDEX from Australia to Vancouver Canada. That cost a bundle! About $120 US Dollars!

Audio left channel only using stereo Sony mic
 

I think this might be a servicing issue, but I wanted to double check with the GL-2 vetrans just to make sure. Since I bought my GL-2 three months ago, I have been using my old Sony ECM-MS908C stereo microphone without a flaw until a few days ago when I noticed the audio was no longer in stereo. Now I can only record audio on the left channel. The mic is ok because I tried it out on another camera and I don't use any other cables other than the one built into the mic. The GL-2's onboard mic records in stereo but as soon as I plug in the Sony mic, the recording is left channel only.
Is there something I missed in the GL-2's menu system or is there a button I need to press on the camera's body?
Thanks in advance,
Aldo.

Off-hand I'd make sure that the Sony's plug is firmly inserted and/or that the plug is still in good order.

If that checks ok, then go back through the various audio setting changes you've made in the past few days, if any. As you know, the GL2 should automatically use a mic plugged into the "Mic" port as long as you've not set the audio for a different source.

Reason for huge GL2 price drop in Canada
 

Well, I found out why the big GL2 price drop in Canada. It's an old story actually. For the last 8 months, Canadian dealers have been pressuring Canon Canada to lower their ridiculous high (dealer's) cost when compared with USA's dealer's cost. So Canon finally bowed to the pressure.

However, with Canon USA's extended rebate, the GL2 is still a better deal in the USA.

Pana and JVC also rip off the Canadian consumer, in my opinion, but unlike Canon, who actually listen to their dealers and consumers, Pana continues ripping Canadians off (in my opinion). Take for example the Pana PV-DV953. In Canada, the average price is $2450 (Canadian); in the USA this cam lists at $1499, with dealers selling it for even cheaper. So if I wanted to buy a PV-DV953, I could save about $600 Canadian by buying US Dollars and sending my money order south of the border. If you are a Canadian, and whether you buy from Canada or from the USA, all you get dinged is taxes (PST and GST---unless you live in Alberta, or have it sent there---no PST in Alberta.

PS: the Canadian Dollar is about .74 something to a US Dollar.

<< the Canadian Dollar is about .74 something to a US Dollar. >>

Forgive me, Frank -- but isn't that better than usual? Or no.

I scanned the manual but could not find anything regarding this,
so my guess would be: no.

Did you perhaps setup the camera wrong? Ie you used the
incorrect settings for the microphone? Or turned up the input
way too high?

That will definitely work, Don. Just as long as you indeed don't
move the camera or else you will need to track. And also don't
have anything pass in fron't of the window or you'll need to
rotoscope as well.

Selective Focus & Depth of Field
 

I am trying to focus purely on a subject and have the background blurry, i.e. reduce the depth of field. Now, I know I can do this if I zoom in on the subject, but I want the same effect in wide-angle. I have tried increasing the shutter-speed (reduce the amount of light through the lens) along with the f-stop setting (to compensate and therefore reduce the depth of field) but just don't seem to be able to lose the focus of the background. Btw, it's a typical daylight scene.

Have I understood the technique correctly (theory anyway)? What am I doing wrong?

Any help, as always, most appreciated.

Well, this technique is very hard to pull of in DV. You need to have
an f-stop as low as possible, like f1.8. It works best if you zoom
in, but it might work a bit zoomed out. Just make sure your f-stop
is as low as possible. Change anything else to achieve that and
then play around with zooming in and out.

There just isn't another way to do it. If you have access to a
blue or green screen you might shoot your background plate
seperate from your actor and then blur the background before
putting your actor over it. You might also do this through
roto-scoping but that is a very demanding and difficult thing
to do (good).

Lloyd,
We have a staggering amount of dept of field topics and posts. We've had months-long discussions on this topic. We have literally exhausted every conceivable aspect of DOF with these cameras. So please do a Search to learn more.

Jeff Donald has also authored a technical article on this subject here.

Bottom line: short of zoom and/or open iris combinations, or silking the background, you're very limited with a 1/4" camera like the GL2. It's probably better to rethink the scene within the limitations of the camera.

Rob,
Thanks for the info. I didn't realise that the size of the CCD would affect this kind of thing but when you think about it I guess it does kinda make sense.

Ken,
Fair comment. Actually I had done a search but must confess that I didn't read every thread the search returned. Most of the threads I read were related to general DoF and didn't cover the selective focusing I am interested in, or discussed comparison with the PD150, or were where people were being asked to conduct a search ;)

However, I just conducted another search and admit that I did actually manage to locate this same info in another thread. So my apologies.

Funny you should mention that article. It was that article (returned by a search with Google) which got me to DVinfo.net in the first place. In fact I think I make reference to it in my post in the introductions forum. Great article indeed :)

Thanks both for your responses.